Archive for the ‘National Insurance Crime Bureau’ tag

A Yamaha motorcycle stolen in Long Beach in 1971 has been recovered and will be reunited with its original owner this week.

The 1970 Yamaha was due to be shipped to Finland after someone bought it on eBay in September. But the vehicle identification number turned up in the database of the National Insurance Crime Bureau during the exporting process.

Long Beach detectives still had the theft report and tracked down the original owner, Phillip M. McKeen, who now lives in New England.

“Incredible,” McKeen said. “It’s as if a friend you hadn’t seen for 30 years walked back into your life, but hasn’t aged a day.”

The 1970 Yamaha has hardly aged. After 35 years, the 360cc motorcycle only has 9,380 miles on the odometer.

McKeen, who now is an American Airlines pilot, will take possession of the bike during a Long Beach Police Department media event on Wednesday.

The Yamaha was purchased by a resident of Lahti, Finland, on eBay, for $1,725 in September. There were 21 bids for the bike, which was being sold by a resident of Visalia, which is in California’s central valley.

The case is similar to that of a stolen 1968 Corvette recovered after it was discovered missing for 37 years as it was being shipped to Sweden from the Port of Los Angeles in January, according to Mike Fleming of the U.S. Customers and Border Protection.

The owner of the Corvette, a New York City resident when it was stolen in 1969, was located living in Northern California, Fleming said.

With the Yamaha, neither the Finnish resident or the Visalia seller were involved in any wrongdoing.